Peter’s Table

When Børge Mogensen asked his good friend Hans J. Wegner in 1944 if he would be godfather to his son, Peter, it also marked the origin of one of the most famous pieces of Danish children’s furniture ever to see the light of day – the chair that came to be called Peter’s Chair. Wegner designed Peter’s Table the following year.

In 1944 Wegner was living in Århus, Denmark was under Nazi occupation and there was a general scarcity of goods. Even christening presents were hard to come by, so Wegner decided to make one himself. The result linked the act of playing with a chair – two things Wegner appreciated a great deal. He made it out of beech, which was plentiful in Denmark. Thus the chair became a piece of furniture that was functional and fun to play with, but also very Danish in terms of its choice of materials.

In order to use it, a child had to first assemble the

four parts it consisted of and likewise the table. Tools were unnecessary and there was no danger to children tussling with the construction, since all the pieces were rounded, with no sharp corners.

Børge Mogensen, who at the time was head of the Danish Co-operative Union’s (FDB) drafting studio, wanted to make the children’s furniture a marketable product.

The furniture’s simple construction, plus the fact that it could be disassembled and stored without taking up much space, suited FDB perfectly, since the company’s image was one of producing practical, functional and affordable quality furniture that could fit in a two-room flat. Together Børge Mogensen and Wegner designed more children’s furniture that could be taken apart, but it was never put into production.

Peter’s Chair and Peter’s Table are the Wegner furniture that has had the greatest number of manufacturers. The chair and table had been out of production for about five years when Carl Hansen & Son were given permission to start up again in the late 1090’s.